1. Technical Field
One aspect of the present invention relates to method and apparatus for applying a viscous material to an application target through a nozzle.
2. Background Art
When an electronic component is to be mounted on a circuit board, a viscous material application apparatus is used. In the viscous material application apparatus, a viscous material such as an adhesive is applied to a circuit board serving as an application target while elevating or lowering a nozzle of an application head (for example, see Japanese Patent No. 4935745). In the viscous material application apparatus, a work of setting various application conditions is performed before, for example, the start of an application work in order to attain an adequate application shape in accordance with the kind of a circuit board to be produced, the kind of a component, etc. Conditions to be set include the lowered position of a nozzle during ejection of a viscous material, an ejection amount of the viscous material, etc.
In the work of setting application conditions, under provisionally set application conditions, the viscous material is applied in a trial manner (hereinafter also referred to as “trial-applied”) a plurality of times to a sheet which is supplied to an application stage for a trial application, a recognition process is performed on the viscous material on the sheet, and the application state including the shape and the application amount is analyzed. In the case where the analysis result shows that the application is faulty, the setting of the application conditions is changed, and the trial application is again performed. The application conditions under which a satisfactory application state is attained are set as that for a work of application on the circuit board.